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This Day in Tech: Oct 19, 1941 - The first AC wind turbine - Grandfather's Knob

Started by Pat McCotter, October 25, 2009, 10:50 AM NHFT

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Pat McCotter

America's first AC wind turbine - Grandfather's Knob, VT.

Oct. 19, 1941: Electric Turbines Get First Wind
By Alexis Madrigal
October 19, 2009

1941: The Smith-Putnam Wind Turbine feeds AC power to the electric grid, the first wind machine ever to do so.

The unprecedented project was built up from nothing, practically conjured, by Palmer Putnam, an MIT-trained geologist with no formal education or experience in wind power. He was a fascinating character, a clean-energy entrepreneur 70 years ahead of his time.

Vannevar Bush, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's science adviser, showered praise on this engineer-of-all-trades, calling Putnam a "go-getter" in his autobiography and noting that he "had some of the characteristics of the best type of promoter in industry. He was well-liked by men with lots of drive, and often disliked by those with less." His friends called him Put, after the Greatest Generation–traditions of the day.
....
At exactly 3:10 a.m. on March 26, 1945, after more than 1,100 hours of operation, the Smith-Putnam turbine experienced an epic failure. One of the turbine's blades broke clean off and went sailing 750 feet through the night. The force of the breaking blade threw Perry off his feet, as the unbalanced machine shook like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise when it's under attack.
...
The blade was carted off, the turbine torn down. A cellphone tower now adorns Grandpa's Knob. Only the foundation of the great wind machine remains.




Another Article and pictures of construction.